Safety bottle-crate



No. 6|3,44l. Patented Nov. l, 189s.

' a. c. CHAPPELL.

SAFETY BOTTLE. CRATE;

A licuumi fi1ed 0et. 11, 1897.)

(No Model.)

: NORRIS PETERS c0. mom-mum, WASNINGTON, u. c.

UNITED 7 STATES PATENT Gr mes.

' GEORGE CLEAVELAND GHAPPELL, OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

SAFETY BOTTLE-CRATE.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,441, dated November 1, 1898. Application filed. October 11, 1897. Serial No. 654,786. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE CLEAVELAND CHAPPELL, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Jacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida, have invented a new and useful Safety Bottle-Crate, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in shipping-crates for bottles.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of shipping-crates for bottles and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device capable of securely holding bottles and analogous receptacles in a crate and preventing them during shipment from contacting with one another or the sides, bottom, or top of the crate and being broken or otherwise injured.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a crate constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. v

1 designates a crate provided with a series of horizontal rods 2, arranged at intervals, disposed parallel with one another, and forming supports for horizontal clamping-bars 3, which are adapted to engage bottles or analogous receptacles at opposite sides thereof, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. The clamping-bars and the rods, which are arranged at right angles to each other, divide the space within the crate into a number of compartments or spaces for the reception of the contents of the crate. The clamping-bars are provided at opposite sides with curved recesses 4, conforming to the configuration of the curved sides of the bottles and receiving elastic strips .5 of rubber or other suitable material, which directly engage the bottles. The elastic strips prevent the bottles from being broken in straining the clam ping-bars to the proper tension, and they securely hold the bottles and prevent them from slipping and contacting with the crate or one another during shipment. The horizontal rods pass through perforations 6 of the clamping-bars and are secured in suitable perforations or sockets 7 of cleats 8, which are fastened within the crate at opposite sides thereof.

The crate may be of any desired size, and it may be provided at opposite sides with a pair of adjusting-screws 9, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, or one or more adj usting-screws may be employedfor the entire crate, according to the size thereof. Each adjusting-screw 9 engages a threaded openingof a frame or nut 10, and its inner end 11 is rounded and fits in a socket 12 of the adjacent clamping-bar. A Washer 13, which is arranged on the smooth inner end of the adj usting-screw, is interposed between the clamping-bar and a radial series of arms 14,-eXtendin g from the adj usting-screw at the inner end thereof and forming handles for enabling the screw to be readily rotated in adjusting the same. A plate 15 is secured to the outer face of the end clamping-bar and is provided with a perforation to receive the inner end of the screw; but the sockets may be otherwise constructed, if desired.

The nut or frame 10 is provided with perforated ears and is secured to the inner faces of the sides of the crate by screws or other suitable fastening devices,which pass through the perforations of the ears. The plate is recessed to receive the inwardly-extending enlargement or central portion of the nut, and it is provided with an opening 17, extending entirely through the side, for the passage of the screw to permit the latter to .rubber strips of the clamping-bars firmly grasp the bottles and prevent them from slip ping, and they are also adapted to yield and prevent the bottles from being broken when the screws are adjusted to clamp the contents of the crate.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificin g any of the advantages of this invention.

\Vhat I claim isl. The combination of a crate, a series of parallel clamping-bars, a series of horizontal rods rigid with the crate and arranged at right angles to and slidingly supporting the clamping-bars, said bars and rods dividing the crate and forming separate bottle-receiving compartments or spaces, and an adj ustiug device for causing the clamping-bars to engage the entire contents of the crate, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a crate provided at one end with an opening extending entirely through it, a series of parallel supportingrods rigid with the crate, a series of clamping-bars slidiugly mounted on the rods, said rods and bars being arranged at right angles to each other and dividing the crate into separate compartments, a nut mounted on the crate and registering with the said opening, and a screw engaging the nut and the adjacent clamping-bar and arranged to extend through said opening,whereby the end clamping-bar is adapted to be arranged close to the end of the crate to adjust it to its full extent, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE CLEAVELAND CllAllllhh.

\Vitnesses:

H. H. EYLEs, A. R. CHAPPELL. 

